Initial operational capability for the B-52J—the new designation for the bomber after extensive re-engining and upgrade programs—won’t be achieved until 2033. The three-year delay is due to issues both with its new engines and new radar, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.
It’s no secret that Rolls-Royce North America has been a trusted partner for the U.S. Air Force going back decades – even before the service was established in 1947. From the company’s factories in Indianapolis, originally the Allison Engine plants,...
When the Air Force sets a new program baseline for the B-52 re-engining this fall, there will be “some” cost increase, because the project wasn't previously fully funded, and the Air Force has a better handle on actual supplier costs and knowledge from ground testing, ...
Rolls-Royce is in the last few months of testing its F130-200 engines before a critical design review of the powerplants, which will equip the re-engined and upgraded B-52J, a company official said. “We’re about one-third through” engine runs with F130-200 Nos. 1 and 2, F130 ...
The Air Force has settled on B-52J as the new designation of the 61-year-old Stratofortress once it's equipped with new Rolls Royce F130 engines. B-52s with new engines and radars are expected to be operational before the end of the decade.
Initial planning has begun for the retirement of the B-1 and B-2 bombers, but the game plan depends largely on progress in fielding the B-21 Raider—and on Congress—the Air Force’s bomber program executive officer said. In an Air Force bomber roadmap from 2018, the service ...
The B-52H will be redesignated the B-52J or possibly B-52K when it gets a new radar and new engines, but the Air Force hasn’t yet decided what will constitute the new B-52 variant, according to Col. Louis Ruscetta, senior materiel leader for the program. The ...
The cost of the B-52 re-engining program has increased 50 percent because of integration issues, according to revelations in a House Armed Services panel hearing. The B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program has been conducted as a middle-tier acquisition program to get underway rapidly and develop ...
The deadline for protesting Rolls-Royce's win of the Air Force's B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program, or CERP, has passed, and none have been filed with the Government Accountability Office, indicating the contract can proceed.
Rolls-Royce North America has prevailed in the Air Force's three-year competition to re-engine the nearly-60-year-old B-52H fleet of 76 aircraft, winning a contract worth up to $2.6 billion if all options are exercised. The engines are to be fully installed by 2038 and are meant ...
The contract to re-engine the B-52 bomber should be awarded by the end of this month, senior service acquisition officials reported Sept. 21. The B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program seeks to replace the B-52’s original-equipment TF30 engines with new powerplants that should improve fuel burn ...
The total program cost of re-engining the B-52H fleet of 76 airplanes will be about $11 billion, a 9 percent jump over a previous estimate because of more-up-to-date data. Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth told the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 17 ...